Lincoln

DETROIT, Mon Dec 3, 2012 — Ford Motor Co. will try to generate interest in its upscale Lincoln vehicles with an ad campaign that draws on the brand’s heritage and includes its first-ever Super Bowl spot.

The campaign, which launches Monday, features a 60-second TV commercial that opens with an image of an actor playing Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. president after whom the brand is named.

It also relaunches the brand under its original name, the Lincoln Motor Co.

The second-largest U.S. automaker is hoping to attract younger, more progressive buyers to its Lincoln vehicles. Lincoln developed a musty image since its sales peaked two decades ago, and by harkening back to the past, Ford aims to show a different side to it.

“This is how Lincoln started. This is how we will become great again,” the automaker says in one print advertisement that will appear in major newspapers and online media Monday.

Ford is betting that fresh designs, glossier showrooms and a personalized approach to service will help drive sales. By the end of the month, Ford dealers will receive the new Lincoln MKZ sedan, one of several models to be introduced by 2015.

By 2014, Ford plans to introduce the brand in China to take advantage of a growing appetite for luxury cars in the world’s largest auto market.

Lincoln was the top-selling luxury nameplate in the United States in the 1990s, but in 2011, sales were just 85,643 — less than half the vehicles sold by Lexus, Toyota Motor Co.’s upscale brand.

DETROIT, Tue Aug 28, 2012 – Ford Motor Co. will launch its Lincoln brand in China within two years as it races to catch up with rivals in the world’s largest auto market and home to a growing number of luxury buyers.

The additional investment to launch Lincoln, which Ford did not disclose, comes on top of around $5 billion that the U.S. automaker has spent since 2006 in a market where it lags some way behind General Motors and Volkswagen.

As Ford builds its top-tier nameplate, it is also developing a low-cost car under the mainstream brand to appeal to more price-sensitive consumers in the fast-growing cities in western China. This vehicle will compete with GM’s Sail car.

The U.S. automaker, which joins several other companies looking to expand or launch luxury auto brands in China, is building its dealership network from scratch and will begin selling Lincoln vehicles in the second half of 2014.

“The brand in China could be a bright spot for Lincoln globally,” Ford’s global marketing chief Jim Farley said during a Beijing media event on Tuesday. “We have a chance to be different here.”

To succeed in China, Ford said it will slowly court dealers who can help burnish Lincoln’s image. Ford is also in the early stages of reviving the brand’s stale image in the United States, where sales peaked two decades ago.

NEW YORK, Tue Apr 3, 2012 – Ford Motor Co. is rolling out new Lincoln models with a panoramic glass roof option to lure younger, more affluent buyers, as the No. 2 U.S. automaker tries to revive a luxury brand whose sales peaked two decades ago.

The new signature retractable 15-square-foot roof is just one feature designed to distinguish the 2013 Lincoln MKZ sedan in the crowded luxury market.

Ford is betting that fresh designs, glossier showrooms and a personalized approach to service will help drive sales. The MKZ, which will be unveiled at the New York auto show this week, is one of seven new or revamped Lincoln models to be introduced by 2015 intended to resuscitate the brand.

“We realize we have a long journey ahead of us, but I think we have set a good foundation for it from the product and also what we’re trying to do with the consumer experience,” said Mark Fields, head of Ford operations in North and South America, at a media event in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.

Lincoln was the top-selling luxury nameplate in the United States in the 1990s, but last year, sales totaled 85,643, less than half the vehicles sold by Lexus, Toyota Motor Co’s. luxury brand.

Ford aims to lower the average age of Lincoln buyers to 57 years from 65, and raise the target average income by more than 50 percent to nearly $160,000 a year.

Lincoln is also hoping that over time half of its buyers will come from other luxury brands. Currently, Lincoln’s “conquest” rate is 37 percent.

DETROIT ― Ford Motor Co. is spending $1 billion in an effort to develop a new generation of vehicles for its struggling Lincoln brand, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing dealers briefed on the plan.

Ford is working on seven all-new or significantly upgraded vehicles that Lincoln will roll out over the next four years.

During a presentation to dealers two weeks ago, Ford Americas President Mark Fields said the auto maker sees the effort as the “last chance” for Lincoln to re-establish itself as a leading competitor in the luxury-car segment, according to the report. The Journal cited three dealers who attended the invitation-only event.

At the meeting, Ford executives said they expect Lincoln sales to fall to 78,000 vehicles this year, and then climb to 162,000 in 2015, with the seven new models providing a lift, the report said.

Representatives for Ford could not immediately be reached for comment outside regular business hours.

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